Hull KR 24 Giants 24

Mar 31 2008 By Adrian Sudbury

WAS this a point lost or a points gained?

That’s hard to say.

But what can’t be disputed is that this was another cracking Giants’ Super League game.

Huddersfield encounters right now are definitely not for the faint-hearted, with nail-biting scorelines of 20-19, 28-26 and 24-24 having been registered in the last four games.

And this clash against Hull KR was arguably the most entertaining of them all.

After fighting their way back from 18-6 down after 27 minutes, the Giants hit the front at 24-18 on the hour before Rovers replied five minutes later to level the scores.

Everything was now in place for the thrilling finale.

Both sides had chances to win the game – with Chris Thorman’s 70th-minute one-on-one tackle on the impressive Jake Webster a Giants lifesaver – and in the last five minutes it became a real ‘drop goalathon’.

First, Kevin Brown had a go, then Paul Cooke and James Webster tried for Hull KR before Luke Robinson chanced his arm.

Cooke and Brown then went for second attempts before the hooter brought the thrilling proceedings to an end.

Of the six attempts, Robinson’s and Webster’s were the closest.

Yet at the close of play, a draw seemed a fair result.

Both sets of players had given it everything and were clearly exhausted after the punishing Easter schedule.

For a side to have lost the contest after such outstanding physical exertions would have been cruel in the extreme.

But given the way Rovers had started the contest, such a gripping end never really looked to be on the cards.

For the opening 30 minutes, the Giants were struggling to get a firm hold on the contest, with two errors and a cheap penalty paving the way for the Robins to grab three tries.

The opener after three minutes came when the visitors failed to defuse a high ‘bomb’ to the corner and from the resulting scrum Jake Webster powered over.

Then in the 19th minute, the Giants conceded a penalty for dissent and Daniel Fitzhenry took full advantage by scoring in the corner from the resulting set.

George Gatis briefly gave the Giants hope when he plunged over for his first try of the season close to the line for Chris Thorman to convert.

But straight from the kick-off, the visitors failed to stop the ball going dead and, from the drop-out, Hull KR worked the position for Chev Walker to finish off.

And with Cooke landing all three conversions, Rovers looked to be back in complete control.

Fortunately for the Giants, however, the tide began to turn on the stroke of half time.

Hudson’s dummy-half run on halfway caught the home side’s defence napping and the alert Thorman was on hand to support the play and finish off under the posts. It was now back to 18-12.

And within six minutes of the restart the scores were level as good pressure on the Hull KR line enabled Paul Whatuira to finish powerfully in the corner.

The in-form boot of Thorman did the rest.

Robinson’s first 40-20 of the season then kept Huddersfield on top before the little scrum half worked an even better play after 60 minutes.

Early in the tackle count and deep inside his own half, Robinson launched a big kick downfield for Rod Jensen to chase.

He just did enough to outpace Hull KR full-back Shaun Briscoe and then stretched out to score a try that could have been better crafted.

Thorman again goaled, and it was 24-18 to the Giants. What a comeback!

But within five minutes, the Robins had struck back when the dangerous Jake Webster put Fitzhenry over for his second and Cooke landed the touchline goal.

The scene had now been set for the thrilling finale.